1946 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1946 St. Louis Cardinals season was a season in American baseball. It was the team's 65th season in St. Louis, Missouri and their 55th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 96–58 during the championship season and finished tied with the Brooklyn Dodgers for first in the National League. St. Louis then won a best-of-three playoff for the pennant, two games to none. In the World Series, they won in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. They won on Enos Slaughter's "mad dash" that gave them a 4–3 lead in the eighth inning of game 7.

1946 St. Louis Cardinals
World Series Champions National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Sportsman's Park
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	96–58 (.628)
League place	1st
Owners	Sam Breadon
General managers	William Walsingham Jr.
Managers	Eddie Dyer
Radio	WIL (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) WTMV/WEW (Harry Caray, Gabby Street)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
Seasons

Offseason

• Prior to 1946 season: Solly Hemus was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.

Regular season

First baseman Stan Musial won the MVP Award this year, batting .365, with 16 home runs and 103 RBIs.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	98	58	.628	—	49‍–‍29	49‍–‍29
Brooklyn Dodgers	96	60	.615	2	56‍–‍22	40‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs	82	71	.536	14½	44‍–‍33	38‍–‍38
Boston Braves	81	72	.529	15½	45‍–‍31	36‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	.448	28	41‍–‍36	28‍–‍49
Cincinnati Reds	67	87	.435	30	35‍–‍42	32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	63	91	.409	34	37‍–‍40	26‍–‍51
New York Giants	61	93	.396	36	38‍–‍39	23‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1946 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	5–17	12–9–1	15–7	13–9	14–8	15–7	7–15
Brooklyn	17–5	—	11–11	14–8–1	15–7	17–5	14–8	8–16
Chicago	9–12–1	11–11	—	13–9	17–5	12–10	12–10–1	8–14
Cincinnati	7–15	8–14–1	9–13	—	14–8	8–14–1	13–9	8–14
New York	9–13	7–15	5–17	8–14	—	12–10	10–12	10–12
Philadelphia	8–14	5–17	10–12	14–8–1	10–12	—	14–8	8–14
Pittsburgh	7–15	8–14	10–12–1	9–13	12–10	8–14	—	9–13
St. Louis	15–7	16–8	14–8	14–8	12–10	14–8	13–9	—

Notable transactions

• July 1946: Jim Gleeson was traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Don Lang and Bill Howerton.

Roster

1946 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 13 Red Barrett 21,27 Johnny Beazley 16,27,36 Al Brazle 31 Harry Brecheen 10 Ken Burkhart 22 Murry Dickson 20 Blix Donnelly 33 Johnny Grodzicki 29 Howie Krist 21 Max Lanier 34 Fred Martin 20 Red Munger 11 Howie Pollet 37 Freddy Schmidt 28 Ted Wilks		Catchers 17 Joe Garagiola 39 Clyde Kluttz 16 Ken O'Dea 18 Del Rice 23 Del Wilber Infielders 35 Jeff Cross  7 Nippy Jones  7 Lou Klein  1 Whitey Kurowski  4 Marty Marion  6 Stan Musial  2 Red Schoendienst 15 Dick Sisler		Outfielders 14 Buster Adams 19 Erv Dusak 24 Bill Endicott  8 Terry Moore  9 Enos Slaughter 5,17 Harry Walker Other batters 42 Danny Litwhiler 38 Walter Sessi  3 Emil Verban		Manager 30 Eddie Dyer Coaches 25 Mike González 26 Buzzy Wares

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Joe Garagiola	74	211	50	.237	3	22
1B	Stan Musial	156	624	228	.365	16	103
2B	Red Schoendienst	142	606	170	.281	0	34
3B	Whitey Kurowski	142	519	156	.301	14	89
SS	Marty Marion	146	498	116	.233	3	46
OF	Harry Walker	112	346	82	.237	3	27
OF	Erv Dusak	100	275	66	.240	9	42
OF	Enos Slaughter	156	609	183	.300	18	130

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Terry Moore	91	278	73	.263	3	2
Dick Sisler	83	235	61	.260	3	42
Buster Adams	81	173	32	.185	5	22
Del Rice	55	139	38	.273	1	12
Clyde Kluttz	52	136	36	.265	0	14
Lou Klein	23	93	18	.194	1	4
Jeff Cross	49	69	15	.217	0	6
Ken O'Dea	22	57	7	.123	1	3
Bill Endicott	20	20	4	.200	0	3
Walter Sessi	15	14	2	.143	1	2
Nippy Jones	16	12	4	.333	0	1
Danny Litwhiler	6	5	0	.000	0	0
Del Wilber	4	4	0	.000	0	0
Emil Verban	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Howie Pollet	40	266.0	21	10	2.10	107
Harry Brecheen	36	231.0	15	15	2.49	117
Johnny Beazley	19	103.0	7	5	4.46	36
Ken Burkhart	25	100.0	6	3	2.88	32

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Red Barrett	23	67.0	3	2	4.03	22
Max Lanier	6	56.0	6	0	1.93	36
Red Munger	10	48.2	2	2	3.33	28
Fred Martin	6	28.2	2	1	4.08	19
Freddy Schmidt	16	27.1	1	0	3.29	14

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Murry Dickson	47	15	6	1	2.88	82
Al Brazle	37	11	10	1	3.29	58
Ted Wilks	40	8	0	1	3.41	40
Howie Krist	15	0	2	0	6.75	3
Blix Donnelly	13	1	2	0	3.95	11
Johnny Grodzicki	3	0	0	0	9.00	2

1946 World Series

Main article: 1946 World Series

NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)

Game	Score	Date	Attendance
1	Boston 3, St. Louis 2 (10 innings)	October 6	36,218
2	St. Louis 3, Boston 0	October 7	35,815
3	Boston 4, St. Louis 0	October 9	34,500
4	St. Louis 12, Boston 3	October 10	35,645
5	Boston 6, St. Louis 3	October 11	35,982
6	St. Louis 4, Boston 1	October 13	35,768
7	St. Louis 4, Boston 3	October 15	36,143

Awards and honors

• Stan Musial, National League leader, Triples, (20).

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Red Birds	American Association	Charlie Root
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Burleigh Grimes and Benny Borgmann
AA	Houston Buffaloes	Texas League	Johnny Keane
A	Columbus Cardinals	Sally League	Kemp Wicker
B	Decatur Commodores	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Harrison Wickel
B	Allentown Cardinals	Interstate League	Ollie Vanek
B	Lynchburg Cardinals	Piedmont League	Wes Ferrell
C	Fresno Cardinals	California League	Everett Johnston and Paul Bowa
C	Winston-Salem Cardinals	Carolina League	Zip Payne
C	Duluth Dukes	Northern League	Mercer Harris and Gene Sack
C	Pocatello Cardinals	Pioneer League	Bill Brenzel
C	St. Joseph Cardinals	Western Association	Bob Stanton
D	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Specs Garbee
D	Salisbury Cardinals	Eastern Shore League	Harold Contini
D	Albany Cardinals	Georgia–Florida League	Herb Moore
D	Carthage Cardinals	Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League	Buzz Arlitt
D	Marion Cardinals	Ohio State League	Wally Schang and Bob Kline
D	Hamilton Cardinals	PONY League	John Newman

External links

• 1946 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1946 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com